I read the first 10 chapters to day! Witness the power of actually being on leave! ;) I would've read more, but I wanted to put my thoughts down here first, and there were important naps to take.
So... when Stackpole was given the first BattleTech trilogy to write, which was also the novel series that drove the game timeline forward from the initial starter books through to the first big campaign, he was responsible for both pushing the timeline forward and covering all of the major factions, while also making the game universe accessible to more readers. I don't think Rogue Squadron is as important a series to the plot of the Star Wars universe as the BattleTech Warrior trilogy was, but I see familiar touches here, like the way he goes into how some of the tech that is going to be in the game a lot works. I enjoyed him doing things like showing us Wedge checking out his X-wing, and the mentions of all the little symbols. I also liked learning about Ooryl's society, and CorSec, and their relationship wiht the Kessel smugglers. I really enjoy seeing little bits of background universe dropped in. While I don't think I know much about Ooryl as a person, I like that they've established already a culture where names and identity have a different basis to that the reader might expect. I like the insectoid tech engineer Zraii the Verpine too - although if there's a lot of things involving base-6 maths, I may have to stop and check numbers to make sure I'm following along ;)
It definitely feels like Corran Horn is going to be the central character, doesn't it? I'm not sure how much we're supposed to like him, but it does feel as if the opening quarter of the book is about teaching him things to make him grow as a character. I do like the way that although most of the characters are people I've not heard of (although for all I know, they could have a huge presence in the EU) there are characters that are linked to existing, known characters. On the one hand, it feels a bit "power of coincidence" but on the other, I... like it? I mean, I can picture Biggs having a younger brother really motivated to become a pilot, and seeing Aril Numb was great. Go Numbs!
I did find Stackpole's description of Erisi to be very male-gaze-y. I'm not sure I would've noticed reading it in a BattleTech book in my teens, but I did notice it this time, which was a shame.
The focus on the ship training exercises and the various manoeuvres performed by the pilots - especially Corran - makes me think that Stackpole looked into the same sort of flying tactics and doctrine the writers of Top Gun did, to make it feel plausible to people who read a lot of military fiction. I'm glad he's not going overboard, but I did notice that I found the Redemption scenario easier to follow than I did the battle at the end of the Last Shot, and easier to visualise, which I liked.
It's not been a book with a lot of laughs in yet, although it is working on the team bonding within the unit, even if Corran's hogging a lot of the limelight, which I like. I did like Wedge's reference to trying to deal with a difficult 3P0 bot, and not having a sister to pass it off too, unlike Luke!
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Date: 2021-06-14 06:56 pm (UTC)So... when Stackpole was given the first BattleTech trilogy to write, which was also the novel series that drove the game timeline forward from the initial starter books through to the first big campaign, he was responsible for both pushing the timeline forward and covering all of the major factions, while also making the game universe accessible to more readers. I don't think Rogue Squadron is as important a series to the plot of the Star Wars universe as the BattleTech Warrior trilogy was, but I see familiar touches here, like the way he goes into how some of the tech that is going to be in the game a lot works. I enjoyed him doing things like showing us Wedge checking out his X-wing, and the mentions of all the little symbols. I also liked learning about Ooryl's society, and CorSec, and their relationship wiht the Kessel smugglers. I really enjoy seeing little bits of background universe dropped in. While I don't think I know much about Ooryl as a person, I like that they've established already a culture where names and identity have a different basis to that the reader might expect. I like the insectoid tech engineer Zraii the Verpine too - although if there's a lot of things involving base-6 maths, I may have to stop and check numbers to make sure I'm following along ;)
It definitely feels like Corran Horn is going to be the central character, doesn't it? I'm not sure how much we're supposed to like him, but it does feel as if the opening quarter of the book is about teaching him things to make him grow as a character. I do like the way that although most of the characters are people I've not heard of (although for all I know, they could have a huge presence in the EU) there are characters that are linked to existing, known characters. On the one hand, it feels a bit "power of coincidence" but on the other, I... like it? I mean, I can picture Biggs having a younger brother really motivated to become a pilot, and seeing Aril Numb was great. Go Numbs!
I did find Stackpole's description of Erisi to be very male-gaze-y. I'm not sure I would've noticed reading it in a BattleTech book in my teens, but I did notice it this time, which was a shame.
The focus on the ship training exercises and the various manoeuvres performed by the pilots - especially Corran - makes me think that Stackpole looked into the same sort of flying tactics and doctrine the writers of Top Gun did, to make it feel plausible to people who read a lot of military fiction. I'm glad he's not going overboard, but I did notice that I found the Redemption scenario easier to follow than I did the battle at the end of the Last Shot, and easier to visualise, which I liked.
It's not been a book with a lot of laughs in yet, although it is working on the team bonding within the unit, even if Corran's hogging a lot of the limelight, which I like. I did like Wedge's reference to trying to deal with a difficult 3P0 bot, and not having a sister to pass it off too, unlike Luke!